Healthcare Update Satellite — 06-23-2014

The right to carry a concealed weapon only exists if your doctor says so. Many states are requiring that physicians certify whether patients are competent to carry a concealed weapon. Some states require mandatory reporting of those deemed not competent to carry a concealed weapon. Of course, the natural extension of such laws is that if the doctors make an inappropriate determination, then the doctors can be held liable if the certifiee does something inappropriate with the weapon.This New England Journal of Medicine article shows that many doctors aren’t comfortable making that determination.
Then again, I’ve heard colleagues threaten that if they’re required to report people, they’re just going to make anonymous certifications that every police officer they see is not capable of carrying a concealed weapon, then forward them to the state using USPS Delivery Confirmation to prove that the reports were received.
We really shouldn’t stop at physician certifications of competency for gun ownership. We should expand the physician certification to encompass other areas in which people could be potentially harmed. For example, physician determination of competency should be required for positions such as judges, CEOs, prosecutors, and anyone who comes into contact with a child. Dammit, we need to protect the children.

Patient taken to Houston’s St. Joseph Medical Center for an “anxiety attack.” Two hours later, the patient was reportedly discharged. The patient didn’t come home for several days. Finally, the patient was found on the hospital’s fourth floor stairwell. Now the patient’s daughter is “convinced someone from the hospital should pay.”
Hat tip to Scott for the link. Thanks!

6 Comments

I was so concerned about the transmission of diseases that I never even considered they are trying to overwhelm the health care system. God help us and America.

If only the press would report on this. They could put the pressure on to stop this. They have love ones too. Don’t they care if they become ill or harmed because of this border crisis? Or are they just stupid?

Except for 2013, Obama has set a new record high of deportations every year he has been in office. In addition, border protection has improved. Where does the writer of this article get the impression that Obama is trying to overwhelm the system with immigrants. Perhaps the writer needs to do a little research rather than relying on the Foxnews echo chamber for his information. Regarding the number of VA Doctors (264,798 !) and over 100 doctors just to care for 166 Guantanamo inmates, I find these numbers to be a bit on the crazy/improbable side. Once again, where are these numbers coming from?

The GITMO numbers are coming from the Joint Medical Group at Joint Task Force Guantanamo:http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/xWEBSITE/fact_sheets/medical.pdf
as linked by the “Foxnews echo chamber” piece you apparently didn’t think was worth your time reading. In fact the Joint Medical Groups stats are “Detainee/healthcare ratio: 1 medical staff for every 1.1 detainees”.

The article states there is 1.5 DOCTORS per detainee. The gitmo website states there are 1.1 medical personnel per detainee. No mention as to whether these personnel also provide medical care to the other personnel on the base. I don’t know about your facility but in most facilities other medical personnel far outnumber physicians, so I still doubt that there are 1.5 doctors per prisoner (or certainly not dedicated to prison care only) There were 2500 appointments for medical care last year. That means the average number of patient appointments for each of the 100 doctors is 25 per year or two a month-I hope they aren’t over worked. I used this thing called google to find the number of deportations under Obama-here is the link to Pew Research http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/24/record-number-of-deportations-in-2012/

High deportation figures are misleading
LA Times 4/1/14
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[edited] The portrait of a steadily increasing number of deportations rests on statistics that conceal almost as much as they disclose. Actually, expulsions of people who are settled and working in the United States have fallen more than 40% since 2009, Obama’s first year in office.

The number of people deported at or near the border has gone up as a result of changing who gets counted. The vast majority of them would not have been formal deportations under most previous administrations.

The change helped the administration look tough in its early years
=== ===

Peter Schildhause, perhaps you need to do a little research rather than relying on the leftist echo chamber for your information.

“Many states are requiring that physicians certify whether patients are competent to carry a concealed weapon”

I’m curious about this statement, because I’ve been reasonably active in concealed carry issues, and it’s the first I’ve heard of requiring a physician’s statement as part of a carry license. It is possible, but more likely a local requirement added on in “may issue” states, designed primarily to make getting a license as difficult as possible. (Yes, I know it’s not Dr Whitecoat’s statement)

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